Monday, July 20, 2009

Crepe-happy (Seattle)

Since re-arriving on the Seattle scene for the summer, I've generally been riding the poverty circuit -- thus haven't been going out as much as I'd like. Luckily, I was able to try a couple new(ish) breakfast joints, plus one that was new to me, and was most satisfied all around.

Here's the place I went to today -- Anita's Crepes -- and a rundown of some frenchy things in general.

Anita's Crepes, which reportedly also has a stand at the Ballard farmer's market, is a cute little place in a decidedly uncute part of town. Props to them: thanks in part to the flowers by the sidewalk, the neat little bistro feel managed to survive, even with my outdoor table's unobstructed view of dusty train tracks and the hulking gray facade of Fred Meyer across the street. Impressive.

On to the food. They have Caffe Vita coffee and excellent bacon -- off to a great start. As for the crepe, not what I was expecting. I discovered my love for crepes at a sidewalk shop in Vancouver, B.C., and those are the crepes I measure all others by: tasty, cheesy, piping hot handheld goodness with no frills and no plate. (I've found two other places that do that exceedingly well: the one at the ferry dock in Kingston, WA and Crepe Express in the Haight in San Francisco.) Anita's was not that. With the fancy plating and pile of miscellaneous stuff, it reminded me immediately of the tasteless, incohesive disaster I was served at the Crepevine in Berkeley. Thankfully, Anita's wasn't that either.

First, the service was great. The chef came out to confess she had forgotten to add the fresh mozzarella I requested, just as I was busily trying to pick out the arugula (which wasn't a listed ingredient on the menu). She quickly remade the whole thing, at her suggestion -- and the result was a great pile of egg, fresh mozz and lots of a tasty French gruyere (comte, I think), with the arugula salad on the side where it belongs, and the tasty tasty bacon also on the side as I prefer it. At the end, I was happy and stuffed, for about 10 bucks. Hooray!

End result: go there, but if you're picky (like me), be clear about exactly what you want. Then eat happy. (I should note that it wasn't busy when I went, at about 11:30 this (Monday) morning. This may not work quite as well if they're packed.)

And while I'm talking about French stuff, if you want sinful buttery French pastries, run now to Le Panier. Prepare to wait in line. For best results, get several of the a la suisse and its other little puff pastry cousins. (However, I don't dig the one with tomato filling -- tasted oddly like a pizza stick -- or the potato-filled one.) My favorites are the ones with broccoli, asparagus, and especially swiss cheese. Mmm, fatty heaven!

2 Comments:

Next time you are downtown - try the little Crepe place over outside the Convention Center. Been there for years, and the compete against Subway in the next stall. They have both the sweet and the savory types of crepes.